8: Number of recorded occurrences of drought in the Philippines from 1968 to 1998 (1968-69, 1972-73, 1977-78, 1982-83, 1986-87, 1989-90, 1991-92, 1997-98).

20: Percentage of water supply shortfall in Metro Manila during the 1991-1992 drought.

321.4: Actual volume of water inflow in million cubic meters in the Angat Dam in 1997-1998, an El Niño year. This represented only 31.6 percent of the dam?s normal inflow of 1,015 million cubic meters.

P3 B: Estimated total amount of agricultural losses due to drought in 1997-1998

P700 M: Estimated total amount of damage to rice and corn crops caused by the 1982-1983 drought

P882 M: Estimated initial budget needed by the Department of Agriculture?s task force on El Niño to help farmers and fisherfolk in 14 provinces in Luzon and the Visayas affected by the current dry spell.

157.47: Height in meters of the water level in Magat Dam in Isabela as of February 27. Operators of the dam had earlier warned that once the water level drops to 160 meters, the 350-megawatt hydroelectric plant powered by the dam will have to be shut down temporarily.

441: Available hydropower in megawatts in Mindanao as of February 22. This represents only 45 percent of its total rated capacity of 982 MW. Hydropower accounts for at least half of Mindanao?s electricity supply.

Source: Impacts of Drought in the Philippines (Pagasa report presented 2009), Official website of the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD-DOST), Inquirer Archives

Compiled by Schatzi Quodala, Inquirer Research